From the Arbor
@ Baker University…
Monthly news from Jerry Weakley-VP Endowment & Planned Giving
Volume 10, Issue 5
June, 2012
Numbers of Importance:
•ecial
Admissions
Interest:
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Baker’s Outstanding Seniors at CAS Named...
Baker presented three Outstanding Senior Awards on May 5
at the Undergraduate Scholars’ Symposium at Mabee Hall.
The recipients were John Babb, Topeka, Kan.; Will Duncan,
Baldwin City, Kan.; and Caleb Watts, Smithville, Mo.
The annual awards recognize senior students who exhibit superior achievement, including academics, leadership, service,
co-curricular activities and off-campus educational opportunities. Here are the winners at a glance:
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800-873-4282
• Recommend a student
Alumni
Office888-781-2586
800- 873-4282
Make a donation800-726-1554
• Contact Alumni Office
Create888-781-2586
a planned gift or create
an endowed scholarship- 785-594-8332
• Make a Donation
or 913-449-9540
(Jerry Weakley)
Baker800-725-1554
Orange www.thebakerorange.com
• Create a planned gift or
Create
an :En
Inside This
Issue
.
Outstanding CAS Seniors Named...
John Babb
Responses From the May Arbor...
An exercise science major, John Babb was a four-year member
and leader of the football team, Student Senate, Champions of NAIA National Champions-2012...
Character and Mungano. He was selected homecoming king
his sophomore year. “He is always positive and confident
making him the best representative of Baker University.”
Caleb Watts
A business major, Caleb Watts served in a variety of roles on
campus, including vice president of his fraternity, an orientation leader and Student Senate president. He also interned
with Sporting KC.
“Caleb has held the position of Student Senate president with
dignity, respect from peers, faculty, staff, and administration
and is always responsible and eager to do his duty to his full
potential.”
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Honor Society Recognized…
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Trivia Answer for May...
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Will Duncan
A triple major in mathematics, music, international studies
with a minor in French, Will Duncan was a class officer, mem- Baker Alumni/Campus Calendar...
ber of the tennis team, vice president of his fraternity and acThe Trivia Question for June...
tive in Mungano. He also held positions as a chemistry lab
assistant, calculus workshop instructor, four-year tutor and
piano instructor. He interned last summer at the National Se- Taxes in Retirement...Plan NOW!!!
curity Agency and has been accepted to Oxford University.
“He has a strong moral sense and an incredible capacity for
compassion.”
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May Issue of Arbor NOW Available…
A little technology glitch occurred last month
that inserted the April issue of the Arbor in
the link where the May issue was to have
been located. A couple of astute readers discovered the faux pas and informed me. It
has now been corrected and you can find the
May issue where it is supposed to be. Cut
and paste this link for that issue…
www.bakeru.edu/images/pdf/Alumni/Arbo
r-may2012.pdf
Congratulations to all of you…YOU WILL BE MISSED!
(You get two issues now for the price of one!)
Page 2
Responses From the May Arbor…
“I love your thoughtful comments on what is happening on
campus there in Baldwin. Recently I was on campus to see
"Luv" and just "bum around" with my sis Ruthie Osa, and we
both remarked that we felt time had somehow slowed down as
we walked here and there. It felt like a wonderful dream just to
be there and see Walt and Barbara Bailey appear at the door of
the auditorium to see the play. I would never wish for Baker to
resist change, but I am grateful for familiar buildings, trees,
people and general atmosphere during my visit. All students
must truly leave part of themselves there and unwittingly find
the missing part when they return for visits. That is what it felt
like for me.” Dolly Stayton Davenport ‘68… Thanks,
Dolly...beautifully stated!
Here’s a small portion of a much longer note I received from
Dr. Larry Wilson ‘58… “I have just finished reading the current
issue of “From the Arbor” and found its contents very interesting. Thank you.
It sounds like Baker had a stellar year and Mabrouk (Arabic for
congratulations) to all. I especially appreciated the article about
the Rhodes Scholars as it reminded me of the many high
achieving academics who have graduated from Baker and gone
on to marvelous achievements and I remembered all but Warren Ault and he should have been first in my mind as he was a
ground-breaking graduate of Baker! I really do not care if several were Zeta Chis, Delts, independents or whatever, the important thing is that they are Baker graduates and it was the
combination of genetic heritage and Baker faculty who made
them so successful and not their out of class affiliations. Many
who did not attend Baker would never think that a small institution like Baker would produce so many outstanding leaders
in science, medicine, politics, education, etc. I felt so proud to
be a Baker graduate!”
Dance Squad is National Champion!!!
For the second year in a row, the Baker
small dance team took the National Championship within the NAIA at the National
meet /National Dance Alliance Championship held in Daytona Beach, Florida in May.
Baker scored 8.300 to edge runner-up Wayland Baptist University (Texas), which finished second at 8.204. Midland University
(Neb.) placed third at 8.196 and Benedictine
College was fourth at 8.177. Baker team
members were Sarah Pembrook, Danielle
Small, Kristina Shiddell, Bailey Buchman,
Katie Butler, Maddison Kristoffersen, Alyssa
Staats, Amanda Seeley, London Wise, Brittney Gapter. Out of the four finalists, Baker
was also named the top squad for innovative
choreography. Congratulations to all team
members and dance coach, Lynsey Payne!!!
Wildcat Track Athletes Excel…
Stephanie Nelson is the new 2012 Javelin
National Champion! Stephanie threw
45.57m (149-06 ft) to win the first national
title for the Baker since 1953 when Palmer
Mai ‘53 won a national low hurdles title.
Also, Katie Thurbon, was the 2012 runner-up
in the Pole Vault. Katie vaulted 3.7m (1201.5 ft) to secure 2nd place.
Congratulations to these dedicated and outstanding athletes along with their Head
Coach Zach Kindler and his staff!
Thanks very much Larry for all of your thoughtful comments!!!
More Student Awards…
“Jerry, when we visited in March for the past two years, it was
so great to chat with Dr. George Wiley in the bleachers at the
softball field. We loved his support for the softball team. And
he even remembered my husband, Gary, from his class in 1977 –
wow! Glad to hear he will be enjoying retirement after
so many years of contributing to BU and connecting with his
students. Keep the Arbor coming – it’s a great link for those of
us so far away.”
Baker’s student-run thebakerorange.com
has been selected as the Great Plains Student Website of the Year. Presented by the
Tulsa Press Club and Benevolent Association, the Great Plains Journalism Awards
promote the highest standards of journalism.
The eight-state competition includes universities and colleges from Kansas, Oklahoma,
Arkansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, North
Diane Liston Williams, 1977...Pinetop, AZ
Dakota and South Dakota. Congratulations
Thanks Diane! Nice to hear from you!!! (P.S…You did actually to the editor, members of the staff of the
catch that the April issue was still up instead of the May issue!) Baker Orange and to Dave Bostwick, faculty
advisor to the Orange!
Page 3
Baker Trivia Answer for May...
The Question: Name the founding faculty
member for the CAS organization-Mungano.
For extra credit...what year was this organization
first recognized as a campus group on the Baldwin
City Campus?
The answer: Retired Baker professor Jesse Milan,
founded the organization as a means of celebrating diversity and for student unity while at the
same time helping students understand feelings
and issues involved in the country’s civil rights era.
Dr. Milan was on campus this past month to participate in the University’s 32nd celebration of its
Candlelight Vigil and march across campus.
Mungano was founded in 1969 and is one of the
oldest on going student organizations at Baker.
Honor Society Recognized…
Baker University’s chapter of the National Society
of Collegiate Scholars (which is just over 1 year old
on the Baldwin City campus) has received recognition as a Silver Star Status chapter for the 2011-2012
academic year. NSCS is an honor society for first
& second year student leaders who are committed
to leadership, service, scholarship, & impacting
their campus & local communities every day.
Nursing Society Inducts New Members…
The Eta Kappa Chapter-at-Large of Sigma Theta
Tau International, the national honor society for
nursing, inducted 17 new members on May 1. Undergraduate students must have a 3.0 GPA and
rank in the top 35 percent of their class to qualify
for membership. Baker School of Nursing students
from the May graduating class inducted were
Cheyenne Barron, Brennan Brands, Chelsea Carnagie, Angelina Guerrero, Katie James, Daniel
Jones, Sarah Luecke, Nicole Woods, Laura Caby,
Steve Collins, Trisha Dietz, Sara Griffith, Kate
Harper, Hailey Hoobler, Jessica McConnell,
Krysta Ransone and Michelle Schaller. The Society
also recognized four of its current members. Ruth
Ohm received the Excellence in Nursing Education Award and Assistant Dean Kay Osinski received the award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership. Laci Lingenfelter, ’08, received the award
for Excellence in Nursing Practice and Christina
Barker, ’09, received the award for Excellence in
Nursing (Community) Service. Congratulations !!!
Education Wall of Honor Inducts Four…
Four Baker University School of Education alumni —
Chris Crawford, Lachelle Sigg, Pam Tate and Mike Wolgast —were inducted into Baker’s Wall of Honor on Saturday, May 19, during the alumni luncheon at Harter
Union. The Wall of Honor was established in 2006 and
is housed in Case Hall on the Baldwin City Campus. It
recognizes Baker alumni who have excelled in the education profession and have made a difference in the lives
of students through their work as teachers, administrators, coaches or school activity sponsors. Educators recognized have completed an undergraduate or graduate
education program at Baker and been recognized for
their work at the state or national level.
Crawford, instructor in the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies, was a Kansas Horizon
Award winner in 2011 as an outstanding first-year
teacher. Crawford received a restricted licensure from
Baker in 2012.
Sigg, former principal at Pioneer Ridge Middle School in
Gardner, received the Kansas Administrators of Middle
Schools Association 2010-2011 Exemplary Middle School
Principal of the Year honor. She received her building
licensure in 2006 from Baker and is the director of human resources for the DeSoto (Kan.) School District.
Tate, principal at Gardner Elementary School, received
the Kansas Association of Elementary School Principals
2012 Kansas Distinguished Principal of the Year honor
and the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals 2005 District 1 Assistant Principal of the Year honor.
She received a Master of Arts in School Leadership from
Baker in 2001.
Wolgast, principal at Pioneer Trail Middle School in
Olathe, was the Kansas Administrators of Middle
Schools Association 2011-2012 Exemplary Middle School
Principal of the Year. He received a Doctor of Education
in Educational Leadership from Baker in 2008. Congratulations to these outstanding educators!!!
First On-line Students Graduate…
Sonja Brown, Murrieta, CA and Elizabeth Edds, Austin,
TX. became the University’s first two students to graduate from its’ “on-line-only” degree program. They both
attended their graduation ceremony along-side more traditional graduates in May and enjoyed meeting each
other and their faculty members! Congratulations!!!
Alumni/Campus Activities…
June Trivia Question...
June, 17-29, 2012...Italy, Croatia, Greece and
Turkey cruise with the Wandering Wildcats.
The Question…
6...HOMECOMING...Reunion for all former
football players of Coach Joe Girardi (who will be
inducted to the University’s Athletic Hall of Fame
that weekend.)
A Yale Law Graduate, Frank Crawford, was the
head football coach of the Wildcat Football
Squad in 1892. After Baker, and Prior to becoming a noted attorney and a professor of Law at
Creighton University he coached several other
University football teams. At what other schools
did he serve as head football coach???
Mulvane Renovation Races toward Completion…
(The answer will be featured in the July/
August Arbor. This is going to take some research...but, the answer is interesting!)
October 5...Athletic Hall of Fame Induction and
all Sports Banquet
With this most significant building/renovation
project in University history slated for completion
now within two months, work crews are steaming
The Next Time You Visit Baldwin City…
ahead on all fronts towards the goal of having the
$10 million plus facility open and ready for stuThe next time you travel to Baldwin City you might want
dents for the fall semester.
to take a little extra time to visit the Black Jack Battlefield
and Nature Park. The site is located just east of town at
I had my first walk through of the facility with a
163 E. 2000 Road. Wagon wheel ruts from the old Santa
small group of donors and university colleagues
Fe Trail are still visible and in the same vicinity.
during Alumni Weekend. I can tell you, this is
going to be one fantastic addition to the educaTour the battlefield where John Brown, fierce opponent of
tional facilities of Baker University!
slavery, led his militia against a proslavery force on June 2,
1856. This armed clash, The Battle of Black Jack, is conDedication of the new facility and official
sidered by many to have been the first battle of The Ameri“opening ceremonies” will be held on Thursday, can Civil War. Learn about the battle and its significance
October 11th. The exact time of the ceremony is in the struggle over slavery that was "Bleeding Kansas”.
yet to be formally announced. The ceremony will
precede the fall meeting of the University’s Board History abounds right here near Baldwin City!!!
of Trustees which will be held Friday-Saturday,
October 12-13th.
Douglas County's Gateway to Kansas Territory...
August 6 - 11, 2012
Hosted at the Holiday Inn
Lawrence, Kansas
Oregon-California Trails Association 2012 Convention will be hosting the event. For more information: OCTA-INFO: (888) 811-6282
P.O. Box 1019 Independence, MO 64051-0519
Come out and support Roger Boyd ‘69 on an exhibition through the history of the 19th century
American migration. Have a Great Month of June…
I’ll write again in July/August!
Jerry L. Weakley ‘70/MBA ‘92
Vice President for
Endowment and Planned Giving
P.O. Box 65,
Baldwin City, KS 66006
1-785-594-8332 /913-449-9540
[email protected]
Baker is proudly affiliated with the
United Methodist Church
“Death and Taxes”...Retirement Too!!!
A quote has been attributed to Benjamin Franklin for centuries that claimed that there is only two things in life that
are assured...“Death and Taxes”. While some argue the validity of the quote or the exact structure of the sentence
that has thus been attributed, let’s just pretend for the sake of argument, that the quote is essentially correct.
Many people in the United States in the 1900’s often included the word “Retirement” into the basic thought of
Franklin from above, though more and more in this day and age, retirement is not so much a given. Those that are
fortunate enough to willingly reach the milestone of “retirement” (regardless of whatever form that word takes for
each individual) should be concerned, however, more and more about the word “Taxes”... even more so than those
that remain to some extent in the work force!
While at this point there has been nothing found by research or science that will prevent physical “Death”, much is
now being written on how to at least substantially reduce, if not avoid, as much of the “Taxes” part as possible.
Since I am staring down the barrel of potentially retiring sometime in the next few years, I find that I am now reading from a variety of documents and sources on the subject of taxes and how they can ultimately ruin or substantially
change the “Retirement” that I had originally dreamed of. “Taxes” in retirement have become an full-time opponent...one to be considered potentially dangerous, one deserving respect and one that will require study, research,
acquiring professional advice and one which will require making informed and timely financial planning decisions.
Obviously, I understand that a nation and government like ours is dependent upon the taxes that its citizens rightfully owe and pay. I am not advocating total tax avoidance...or going to deal with the reasons why taxes continue to
increase or any other political discussion regarding the subject. I am simply saying that for me, and I would think,
for most of you, that we should do what we can to limit the potentially negative impact of “Taxes” on us in retirement. The question then becomes...HOW???
A recent article I read on-line through YAHOO! FINANCE summarized a number of strategies and considerations
for those either considering retirement or certainly for those who have already retired whether on their own volition
or having been forced into retirement earlier than they originally planned. Here are some of the topic areas covered
in the article that I thought you might want to look into as well:
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Build a tax-diversified portfolio...don’t lock all your saving into a 401(K)/403(B)/or tax-deferred IRA. (If you do,
every withdrawal may trigger a taxable event.)
Consider the impact of taxes on the age at which you begin taking Social Security
Stay informed and up to date on what your Federal Tax Bracket is...not knowing and then dipping into a taxdeferred fund that elevates you into a higher bracket could be extremely costly.
Optimize what assets you add to what type of fund or type of investment.
Remember Muni-Bonds...Interest on these is typically not subject to state or local taxes
Where you live might make a big difference...certain states like Delaware and Florida have much lower, or in the
case of Florida...NO income tax at all!
Seeking financial planning assistance may be a good idea for the majority of people...sure, there will be some
cost to that, but in the end, if net monies are saved by good planning—you come out ahead!
Please contact me for further ideas on tax-wise giving to Baker at [email protected] or call me at 785594-8332 (office) or 913-449-9540 (cell).
Jerry L. Weakley
VP Endowment & Planned Giving
P.S. * The Above information is provided only for your consideration and
should not be construed as “Legal or Tax Advice”. You should always consult your own professional advisor before acting upon this or similar information. Please consider leaving something to Baker in your estate plan!